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In the United States black women have for decades been twice as likely as white women to give birth to babies of low birth weight who are at elevated risk for developmental disabilities. Does the black-white disparity in low birth weight contribute to the racial disparity in readiness?

The author summarizes the cognitive and behavioral problems that beset many low birth weight children and notes that not only are the problems greatest for the smallest babies, but black babies are two to three times as likely as whites to be very small. Nevertheless, the racial disparities in low birth weight cannot explain much of the aggregate gap in readiness because the most serious birth weight-related disabilities affect a very small share of children. The author estimates that low birth weight explains at most 3-4 percent of the racial gap in IQ scores.

The author applauds the post-1980 expansions of Medicaid for increasing rates of prenatal care use among poor pregnant women but stresses that standard prenatal medical care cannot improve aggregate birth outcomes substantially. Smoking cessation and nutrition are two prenatal interventions that show promise. Several early intervention programs have been shown to improve cognitive skills of low birth weight children. But even the most promising programs can narrow the readiness gap only a little because their benefits are greatest for heavier low birth weight children and because low birth weight explains only a small share of the gap.

The author stresses the importance of reducing rates of low birth weight generally and of extending to all children who need them the interventions that have improved cognitive outcomes among low birth weight children. But because black infants are more likely to be born at the lowest birth weights, preventing low birth weight—when researchers learn how to—is likely to be more effective than early intervention in narrowing birth weight-related racial gaps in school readiness.

Investigates the effect of parents' birthplace & ethnicity on prenatal care usage & birth outcomes among recent Latin American immigrant populations & native-born populations in NJ, using data on single, live, in-state births to NJ residents, 1989/90, collected by the Dept of Health. It is found that native-born & immigrant Puerto Ricans had the worst prenatal care usage & birth outcomes among Hispanic groups. Non-Hispanic & African Americans were similarly at risk for low prenatal care usage & adverse birth outcomes. Paradoxically, although Mexican immigrants & Mexican Americans also used prenatal facilities infrequently, this pattern did not result in poor birth outcomes. These data indicate that programs designed to improve birth outcomes should target the Puerto Rican & African American populations. Further, research designed to explain the paradox presented by Mexican & Mexican American groups may illuminate with more precision factors associated with at-risk birth outcomes. 7 Tables, 49 References. D. M. Smith

We used data from the 1998–2009 waves of the National Health Interview Survey to investigate cohort differences in low birthweight among US-born children of mothers arriving in the United States between 1955 and 2009, cohort-adjusted patterns in low birthweight by maternal duration of residence in the United States, and cohort-adjusted patterns in low birthweight by maternal duration of US residence stratified by age at arrival and region of origin. We found a consistent deterioration in infant health with successive immigrant cohorts and heterogeneous effects of cohort-adjusted duration in the United States by age at arrival and region. Most notably, we found evidence that maternal health (as proxied by low birthweight) deteriorates with duration in the United States only for immigrant mothers who came to the United States as children. For mothers who arrived as adults, we found no evidence of deterioration. The findings underscore the importance of considering age at arrival and place of origin when studying post-migration health trajectories and provide indirect evidence that early life exposures are a key to understanding why the United States lags other developed nations in health.

Objective. We estimate the effect of poor child health on the labor supply of fathers post‐welfare reform, using a national sample of mostly unwed parents and their children—a group at high risk of living in poverty.Method. We control for a rich set of covariates, include state fixed effects, and test for the endogeneity of child health by estimating bivariate probit models.Results. We find that having a young child in poor health reduces the father's probability of being employed by four percentage points. The effect appears to be strongest among fathers who cohabit with, but are not married to, the child's mother.Conclusion. The results suggest a potential source by which young children with serious health problems may receive lower levels of health investment than their healthier peers—their fathers' reduced likelihood of being employed.

Objective. We estimate the effect of poor child health on the labor supply of fathers' post-welfare reform, using a national sample of mostly unwed parents & their children -- a group at high risk of living in poverty. Method. We control for a rich set of covariates, include state fixed effects, & test for the endogeneity of child health by estimating bivariate probit models. Results. We find that having a young child in poor health reduces the father's probability of being employed by four percentage points. The effect appears to be strongest among fathers who cohabit with, but are not married to, the child's mother. Conclusion. The results suggest a potential source by which young children with serious health problems may receive lower levels of health investment than their healthier peers -- their fathers' reduced likelihood of being employed. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.